Black Dog Strategy has a great post
on narrativity
and why it is important.
“Narrativity is the
voice, tone, and verbiage
you use to tell that
vivid, appealing, authentic story.
Narrativity is like
a person’s distinct vocabulary
and speech pattern.
It’s the words and phrases you own,
and it’s what makes you sound like you,
instead of just like everybody else.”
(It also is a made up word
but then at one point,
every word was a made up word)
How to achieve this voice consistency
in a large company?
In the large beverage company
I worked at,
each product had ONE brand manager.
The brand manager put her touch
on all the communications for her product.
James Patterson does the same thing
with his books.
He takes a book one of his people has written,
and puts the James Patterson touch on it
before slapping his name on the cover.
Hey, it works.
Another way to achieve this
is to have a brand bible.
This is a database of words the brand uses
images associated with the brand,
and things the brand would or would not do.
When writers participate in
a multi-author series,
a brand or series bible is a must.
It ensures that all writers
are playing in the same world
with the same characters.
It is added to
as the brand/series matures.
Consistency is a must
when growing a brand,
but so is being original.
Figure out a method
to balance the two.